Incremental Invasion in Ukraine (Commentary and translation by Jeffrey D. Stephaniuk) John Heilprin of the Associated Press writes in “Long odds for justice in Malaysia jet disaster,” that the “Russian constitution forbids extradition of its citizens.” However, it doesn’t stop the Russian government from manipulating the extradition power of organizations like Interpol for their own political ends off the Ukrainian battlefield. First there was Ukrainian pilot Nadia Savchenko who is currently in a prison in Voronezh, Russia, and now former presidential candidate and leader of the Volunteer Ukrainian Corps (DUK) Dmytro Yarosh is being discredited with fabricated charges and a warrant for his arrest. Interpol General Secretariat headquarters are in Lyon, France, the NATO country that insists on selling warships to Russia. Following the terrorist attack on flight MH 17, Interpol offered the services of its “Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) experts, and in fact Ukraine itself is a member of Interpol, organized through Interpol Kiev. Surprisingly for a country whose designation for its campaign in eastern Ukraine is called the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO), it is not Interpol assisting Ukraine in compiling a wanted list of every person using violence against civilians and government police and security services. Enough mass graves are being discovered in liberated territory to make Interpol a natural international ally for the Ukrainian government. On their website, description is made of the “INTERPOL-United Nations Security Council Special Notice” which “is issued for individuals and entities that are subject to sanctions imposed by the United Nations Security Council.” However, as Heilprin writes about justice for MH 17 victims and their families, “as a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, Russia has the right to veto any attempt by the United States or another member of that body to bring a case before the International Criminal Court.” Such are the odds Ukraine faces if it hopes to enlist Interpol on its side through the United Nations. The announcement of Dmytro Yarosh as an Interpol wanted-list suspect coincides with a meeting in Lyon announced on the Interpol website: “Reinforcing eight years of cooperation between the Anti-Terrorism Center of Commonwealth of Independent States (ATC-CIS) and INTERPOL was the focus of a visit by Andrey Novikov, Head of the ATC-CIS to INTERPOL’s General Secretariat headquarters to discuss issues relating to foreign fighters.” Novikov, who was previously the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, is reported to have discussed the topic of foreign fighters and cyber terrorism, the kind of charges by Russia against Yarosh: “Public incitement to terrorist activities involving the use of mass media… Public incitement to extremist activities involving the use of mass media.” In the hypocrisy of passport politics, he is a “foreign fighter” under Interpol’s definition, but since Ukraine’s right to exist is not recognized, the Russian nationals fighting in Ukraine are neither foreign fighters nor terrorists. Ukraine had been a member of the Commonwealth of Independent States since its organization, making its current Anti-Terrorist Operation a prime candidate for assistance from Interpol. No mention of the ATO was made in the press release. Sometimes it is harder to disprove the little lies than it is the big lies. If Russia had declared war on Ukraine before annexing Crimea, a predictable response could have been mounted. If the troops amassed on the Russian side of the Russia-Ukraine border had invaded Ukraine, it would have gained the attention of the world. Now this incremental approach to invasion is a strategy being applied to destroy individuals, first Nadia Savchenko and now Dmytro Yaorsh, To their credit, Ukraine is not cooperating with the Interpol-Russia intrigue. Anton Gerashenko, who speaks for the Ukrainian government on this matter, has stated that “Ukraine will not extradite its citizens to another country, especially Russia,” when Russia “refuses to extradite a citizen of Ukraine,” namely Viktor Yanukovych. However, if he has been granted Russian citizenship, he would be protected from extradition. Geraschenko also made reference to some thirty other former members of the government with warrants for their arrest. As for Dmytro Yarosh, he mentioned the Interpol information on his Facebook account. However, he stated other priorities first. His top priority was to honour the dead who had died in the current liberation of Donetsk. Then he criticized the Yanukovych-era military brass who allowed him to gut 80% of the military men and materiel; and who continue to issue “idiotic” orders. Third, he described the formation of new volunteer battalions in Lviv and Volyn. He wrote about the high morale of the volunteers and regular forces, and relayed a comment from the armoured regiment fighting in their battle group: “So long as Pravyi Sektor is here with us, we will not retreat,” Finally, he addressed the Interpol warrant, stating, “don’t even ask me to comment on it. What I really have to say about it is beneath my dignity as a Christian.” He concluded by mocking the idea that no one knew where he was: “They know where to find me; just look for the mortars.”
Posted on: Sat, 26 Jul 2014 21:21:33 +0000
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